New Delhi: External affairs minister S Jaishankar ripped into the Opposition, particularly the Congress, in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday and said that no phone calls took place between US president Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi between April 22 to June 16.
During the debate on the Pahalgam massacre and Operation Sindoor in both houses of Parliament over the last two days, the Congress and other Opposition parties accused the Modi government of bowing down to pressure from the US and calling off the armed conflict against Pakistan.
These allegations are based upon Trump’s claims that he brokered truce between the two countries. Prime Minister Modi had clarified in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday that no foreign country or leader had anything to do with the cessation of operations. It happened only after the Pakistani DGMO made an appeal to his Indian counterpart on May 10.
“This was after the Indian Armed Forces sent several air bases in Pakistan to the ICU,” Modi said in Parliament.
Jaishankar followed suit in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday and said: “Main unko kehna chahta hoon, woh kaan kholke sun le. 22 April se 16 June tak, ek bhi phone call President Trump aur Prime Minister Modi ke beech mein nahi hua. (I want to tell them to listen carefully: from April 22 to June 16, not a single phone call took place between President Trump and Prime Minister Modi).”
He further emphasised India’s firm stance against mediation in India-Pakistan matters, and how India had made it clear that any dialogue must be bilateral and that Pakistan must formally request a cessation of conflict through the DGMO.
“When Operation Sindoor commenced, a number of countries were in touch with us to see how serious the situation was and how long it would go… We gave the same message to all the countries… that we were not open to any mediation. Anything between us and Pakistan will only be bilateral… And that we were responding to the Pakistani attack, and we would keep responding. If that fighting was to stop, Pakistan must make a request. And that request could only come through the channel of the DGMO…,” Jaishankar said.
The external affairs minister also blasted Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Jairam Ramesh, referring to them as self-styled “China Gurus”.
“Today, Sir, people are offering great wisdom on China. In fact, some people have said I am not well-versed on China. Sir, I only spent 41 years in the foreign service and have only been the longest-serving ambassador to China. But there are China Gurus now. One, Sir, is an honourable member sitting across from me, whose affection for China is so great that he coined the term Chindia,” he added, drawing laughter from the Treasury benches.
Jaishankar’s remarks were a veiled jibe at Congress MP Jairam Ramesh, who coined the term “Chindia” in the early 2000s to promote the idea of India and China working together.
In a 2014 interview with China’s state-run Global Times, Ramesh had said, “Ten years ago, when I proposed the concept of Chindia, the whole idea was that India and China could cooperate and work together to face challenges ahead.”
“Chindia is not an outdated vision; it is actually what the governments of both countries are carrying forward,” Ramesh had said at the time, adding that India and China should not become “victims to those people who see them as natural rivals.”
Later, Congress leaders, including MP and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi repeatedly made critical comments about the Modi government’s handling of the border standoff with China, demanding a more aggressive stance by India.
The Nehru-Gandhi family scion had also undermined Jaishankar’s capabilities in dealing with China. At an event in London in 2023, he had said the foreign minister’s understanding of China was “superficial.”
“I had an interaction with the foreign minister… He just doesn’t understand it,” Gandhi had said then, drawing sharp reactions from the BJP.
“The ‘China Guru’ says China and Pakistan have grown very close, and that’s absolutely true. But why did they come closer? Because we left the land of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir between them,” Jaishankar said in a veiled attack on Rahul Gandhi.
He also hit out at the Congress on the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) that India suspended after the Pahalgam terror attack.
“The Indus Water Treaty in many ways is a very unique agreement. I cannot think of any agreement in the world where a country has allowed its major rivers to flow to the next country without having rights on those rivers. Yesterday, I heard people. Some people are uncomfortable with history. They prefer that historical things be forgotten. Maybe it does not suit them. They only like to recall some things,” Jaishankar said and moved to
Jawaharlal Nehru’s statement in Parliament in 1960 regarding the IWT.
“On November 30th 1960, he (Jawaharlal Nehru) says: “I would like to know if this house is to judge the quantum of supply of water or money to be given”. People objected to that. The then PM also said: “Let me do this treaty for the interest of Pakistani Punjab.” Not a word about farmers of Kashmir or Punjab. Not a word about Rajasthan or Gujarat,” Jaishankar said.
He added that PM Modi has “corrected” Jawaharlal Nehru’s “mistakes” when it comes to handling the IWT and Article 370.